ART. 12 KEVISION OF LIZARDS OF GENUS CTENOSAURA BAILEY 5 



semidesert plateau region just south of the Motogua Kiver in Guate- 

 mala. The distribution of erythromelas is unknown. Part of the 

 acanthura group upon reaching the Isthmus of Tehuantepec turned 

 north, following the foothills of the mountain ranges along the east 

 coast of Mexico, where they have been collected as far north as. 

 Tamaulipas. 



Early writers placed members of this genus in various genera. 

 Shaw called his type Lacerta acanthura. Merrem called the same 

 species Uromastyx acanthurus, while most of the early authors placed 

 all these lizards in the genus Cyclura. The genus Ctenosaura was 

 erected by Wiegmann in 1828, based upon Ctenosaura cycluroides 

 {Ctenosaura acanthura), collected in Mexico by F. Deppe. Although 

 the exact locality of Deppe's specimens is not known, it is thought 

 that they were taken near Vera Cruz, his first landing and collect- 

 ing place in Mexico. 



In the spring of 1828 Deppe accompanied Doctor Schiede to 

 Mexico, primarily to collect botanical specimens for the museum at 

 Berlin. Zoological material was collected also, and some of the 

 mammals, birds, and reptiles were described by Lichtenstein in 1838 

 and 1854. Their work was confined chiefly to eastern and southern 

 Mexico, but some collections were made on the west coast by Deppe. 



Schiede and Deppe landed at Vera Cruz and after spending several 

 weeks in that vicinity proceeded to Jalapa, where they arrived in early 

 August. They left Jalapa November 28 for Papantla and Misantla. 

 While in this vicinity they collected on Orizaba and Cofre de Perote. 

 Writing under date of October 26, 1829, from the City of Mexico,^ 

 Doctor Schiede stated that Deppe left him at Jalapa Math the intention 

 of going to California by way of Acapulco, but that he was prevented 

 from carrying out his plans and was in the City of Mexico when he 

 (Schiede) arrived. Schiede died about 1836 and after his death Deppe 

 went on to California, probably by way of Acapulco and thence by 

 vessel to Monterey or San Francisco, as he had originally planned. 

 Early in the following year, 1837, he visited the Sandwich Islands, 

 where he was with J. K, Townsend in Honolulu. The same year he 

 returned to his home at Charlottenburg, about 1 mile from Berlin, 

 where he remained until his death in 1861 . 



The collector and date of collection of Shaw's Ctenosaura acanthura 

 are unknown, but the collection was made prior to 1802, the time the 

 description was published. It was evidently collected in Mexico, 

 where it is still not uncommon, since its habitat, the coastal region, is 

 very large and contains much unsettled territory. The species 

 hemilopha is common in the cape region of Lower California, while 

 hrachylopha is limited to southern Sinaloa, the islands, and the 



'Linnaea, vol. 5, p. 477. 



